The first thing to be understood is what ego is. A child is born. A child is born without any knowledge, any consciousness of his own self. And when a child is born the first thing he becomes aware of is not himself; the first thing he becomes aware of is the other. It is natural, because the eyes open outwards, the hands touch others, the ears listen to others, the tongue tastes food and the nose smells the outside. All these senses open outwards.

That is what birth means. Birth means coming into this world, the world of the outside. So when a child is born, he is born into this world. He opens his eyes, sees others. 'Other' means the thou. He becomes aware of the mother first. Then, by and by, he becomes aware of his own body. That too is the other, that too belongs to the world. He is hungry and he feels the body; his need is satisfied, he forgets the body.

This is how a child grows. First he becomes aware of you, thou, other, and then by and by, in contrast to you, thou, he becomes aware of himself.

This awareness is a reflected awareness. He is not aware of who he is. He is simply aware of the mother and what she thinks about him. If she smiles, if she appreciates the child, if she says, "You are beautiful," if she hugs and kisses him, the child feels good about himself. Now an ego is born.

Through appreciation, love, care, he feels he is good, he feels he is valuable, he feels he has some significance.

A center is born.

But this center is a reflected center. It is not his real being. He does not know who he is; he simply knows what others think about him. And this is the ego: the reflection, what others think. If nobody thinks that he is of any use, nobody appreciates him, nobody smiles, then too an ego is born: an ill ego; sad, rejected, like a wound; feeling inferior, worthless. This too is the ego. This too is a reflection.

First the mother - and mother means the world in the beginning. Then others will join the mother, and the world goes on growing. And the more the world grows, the more complex the ego becomes, because many others' opinions are reflected.

The ego is an accumulated phenomenon, a by-product of living with others. If a child lives totally alone, he will never come to grow an ego. But that is not going to help. He will remain like an animal. That doesn't mean that he will come to know the real self, no.

The real can be known only through the false, so the ego is a must. One has to pass through it. It is a discipline. The real can be known only through the illusion. You cannot know the truth directly. First you have to know that which is not true. First you have to encounter the untrue. Through that encounter you become capable of knowing the truth. If you know the false as the false, truth will dawn upon you.

Ego is a need; it is a social need, it is a social by-product. The society means all that is around you - not you, but all that is around you. All, minus you, is the society. And everybody reflects. You will go to school and the teacher will reflect who you are. You will be in friendship with other children and they will reflect who you are. By and by, everybody is adding to your ego, and everybody is trying to modify it in such a way that you don't become a problem to the society.

They are not concerned with you.

They are concerned with the society.

Society is concerned with itself, and that's how it should be.

They are not concerned that you should become a self-knower. They are concerned that you should become an efficient part in the mechanism of the society. You should fit into the pattern. So they are trying to give you an ego that fits with the society. They teach you morality. Morality means giving you an ego which will fit with the society. If you are immoral, you will always be a misfit somewhere or other. That's why we put criminals in the prisons - not that they have done something wrong, not that by putting them in the prisons we are going to improve them, no. They simply don't fit. They are troublemakers. They have certain types of egos of which the society doesn't approve. If the society approves, everything is good.

One man kills somebody - he is a murderer.

And the same man in wartime kills thousands - he becomes a great hero. The society is not bothered by a murder, but the murder should be commited for the society - then it is okay. The society doesn't bother about morality.

Morality means only that you should fit with the society.

If the society is at war, then the morality changes.

If the society is at peace, then there is a different morality.

Morality is a social politics. It is diplomacy. And each child has to be brought up in such a way that he fits into the society, that's all. Because society is interested in efficient members. Society is not interested that you should attain to self-knowledge.

The society creates an ego because the ego can be controlled and manipulated. The self can never be controlled or manipulated. Nobody has ever heard of the society controlling a self - not possible.

And the child needs a center; the child is completely unaware of his own center. The society gives him a center and the child is by and by convinced that this is his center, the ego that society gives.

A child comes back to his home - if he has come first in his class, the whole family is happy. You hug and kiss him, and you take the child on your shoulders and dance and you say, "What a beautiful child! You are a pride to us." You are giving him an ego, a subtle ego. And if the child comes home dejected, unsuccessful, a failure - he couldn't pass, or he has just been on the back bench - then nobody appreciates him and the child feels rejected. He will try harder next time, because the center feels shaken.

Ego is always shaken, always in search of food, that somebody should appreciate it. That's why you continuously ask for attention.

You get the idea of who you are from others.

It is not a direct experience.

It is from others that you get the idea of who you are. They shape your center. This center is false, because you carry your real center. That is nobody's business. Nobody shapes it.

You come with it.

You are born with it.

So you have two centers. One center you come with, which is given by existence itself. That is the self. And the other center, which is created by the society, is the ego. It is a false thing - and it is a very great trick. Through the ego the society is controlling you. You have to behave in a certain way, because only then does the society appreciate you. You have to walk in a certain way; you have to laugh in a certain way; you have to follow certain manners, a morality, a code. Only then will the society appreciate you, and if it doesn't, you ego will be shaken. And when the ego is shaken, you don't know where you are, who you are.

The others have given you the idea.

That idea is the ego.

Try to understand it as deeply as possible, because this has to be thrown. And unless you throw it you will never be able to attain to the self. Because you are addicted to the center, you cannot move, and you cannot look at the self.

And remember, there is going to be an interim period, an interval, when the ego will be shattered, when you will not know who you are, when you will not know where you are going, when all boundaries will melt.

You will simply be confused, a chaos.

Because of this chaos, you are afraid to lose the ego. But it has to be so. One has to pass through the chaos before one attains to the real center.

And if you are daring, the period will be small.

If you are afraid, and you again fall back to the ego, and you again start arranging it, then it can be very, very long; many lives can be wasted.

I have heard: One small child was visiting his grandparents. He was just four years old. In the night when the grandmother was putting him to sleep, he suddenly started crying and weeping and said, "I want to go home. I am afraid of darkness." But the grandmother said, "I know well that at home also you sleep in the dark; I have never seen a light on. So why are you afraid here?" The boy said, "Yes, that's right - but that is MY darkness." This darkness is completely unknown.

Even with darkness you feel, "This is MINE."

Outside - an unknown darkness.

With the ego you feel, "This is MY darkness."

It may be troublesome, maybe it creates many miseries, but still mine. Something to hold to, something to cling to, something underneath the feet; you are not in a vacuum, not in an emptiness. You may be miserable, but at least you ARE. Even being miserable gives you a feeling of 'I am'. Moving from it, fear takes over; you start feeling afraid of the unknown darkness and chaos - because society has managed to clear a small part of your being.

It is just like going to a forest. You make a little clearing, you clear a little ground; you make fencing, you make a small hut; you make a small garden, a lawn, and you are okay. Beyond your fence - the forest, the wild. Here everything is okay; you have planned everything. This is how it has happened.

Society has made a little clearing in your consciousness. It has cleaned just a little part completely, fenced it. Everything is okay there. That's what all your universities are doing. The whole culture and conditioning is just to clear a part so that you can feel at home there.

And then you become afraid.

Beyond the fence there is danger.

Beyond the fence you are, as within the fence you are - and your conscious mind is just one part, one-tenth of your whole being. Nine-tenths is waiting in the darkness. And in that nine-tenths, somewhere your real center is hidden.

One has to be daring, courageous.

One has to take a step into the unknown.

For a while all boundaries will be lost.

For a while you will feel dizzy.

For a while, you will feel very afraid and shaken, as if an earthquake has happened. But if you are courageous and you don't go backwards, if you don't fall back to the ego and you go on and on, there is a hidden center within you that you have been carrying for many lives.

That is your soul, the self.

Once you come near it, everything changes, everything settles again. But now this settling is not done by the society. Now everything becomes a cosmos, not a chaos; a new order arises.

But this is no longer the order of the society - it is the very order of existence itself.

It is what Buddha calls Dhamma, Lao Tzu calls Tao, Heraclitus calls Logos. It is not man-made. It is the VERY order of existence itself. Then everything is suddenly beautiful again, and for the first time really beautiful, because man-made things cannot be beautiful. At the most you can hide the ugliness of them, that's all. You can decorate them, but they can never be beautiful.

The difference is just like the difference between a real flower and a plastic or paper flower. The ego is a plastic flower - dead. It just looks like a flower, it is not a flower. You cannot really call it a flower. Even linguistically to call it a flower is wrong, because a flower is something which flowers. And this plastic thing is just a thing, not a flowering. It is dead. There is no life in it.

You have a flowering center within. That's why Hindus call it a lotus - it is a flowering. They call it the one-thousand-petaled-lotus. One thousand means infinite petals. And it goes on flowering, it never stops, it never dies.

But you are satisfied with a plastic ego.

There are some reasons why you are satisfied. With a dead thing, there are many conveniences. One is that a dead thing never dies. It cannot - it was never alive. So you can have plastic flowers, they are good in a way. They are permanent; they are not eternal, but they are permanent.

The real flower outside in the garden is eternal, but not permanent. And the eternal has its own way of being eternal. The way of the eternal is to be born again and again and to die. Through death it refreshes itself, rejuvenates itself.

To us it appears that the flower has died - it never dies.

It simply changes bodies, so it is ever fresh.

It leaves the old body, it enters a new body. It flowers somewhere else; it goes on flowering.

But we cannot see the continuity because the continuity is invisible. We see only one flower, another flower; we never see the continuity.

It is the same flower which flowered yesterday.

It is the same sun, but in a different garb.

The ego has a certain quality - it is dead. It is a plastic thing. And it is very easy to get it, because others give it. You need not seek it, there is no search involved. That's why unless you become a seeker after the unknown, you have not yet become an individual. You are just a part of the crowd. You are just a mob.

When you don't have a real center, how can you be an individual?

The ego is not individual. Ego is a social phenomenon - it is society, its not you. But it gives you a function in the society, a hierarchy in the society. And if you remain satisfied with it, you will miss the whole opportunity of finding the self.

And that's why you are so miserable.

With a plastic life, how can you be happy?

With a false life, how can you be ecstatic and blissful? And then this ego creates many miseries, millions of them.

You cannot see, because it is your own darkness. You are attuned to it.

Have you ever noticed that all types of miseries enter through the ego? It cannot make you blissful; it can only make you miserable.

Ego is hell.

Whenever you suffer, just try to watch and analyze, and you will find, somewhere the ego is the cause of it. And the ego goes on finding causes to suffer.

You are an egoist, as everyone is. Some are very gross, just on the surface, and they are not so difficult. Some are very subtle, deep down, and they are the real problems.

This ego comes continuously in conflict with others because every ego is so unconfident about itself. Is has to be - it is a false thing. When you don't have anything in your hand and you just think that something is there, then there will be a problem.

If somebody says, "There is nothing," immediately the fight will start, because you also feel that there is nothing. The other makes you aware of the fact.

Ego is false, it is nothing.

That you also know.

How can you miss knowing it? It is impossible! A conscious being - how can he miss knowing that this ego is just false? And then others say that there is nothing - and whenever the others say that there is nothing they hit a wound, they say a truth - and nothing hits like the truth.

You have to defend, because if you don't defend, if you don't become defensive, then where will you be?

You will be lost.

The identity will be broken.

So you have to defend and fight - that is the clash.

A man who attains to the self is never in any clash. Others may come and clash with him, but he is never in clash with anybody.

It happened that one Zen master was passing through a street. A man came running and hit him hard. The master fell down. Then he got up and started to walk in the same direction in which he was going before, not even looking back.

A disciple was with the master. He was simply shocked. He said, "Who is this man? What is this? If one lives in such a way, then anybody can come and kill you. And you have not even looked at that person, who he is, and why he did it."

The master said, "That is his problem, not mine."

You can clash with an enlightened man, but that is your problem, not his. And if you are hurt in that clash, that too is your own problem. He cannot hurt you. And it is like knocking against a wall - you will be hurt, but the wall has not hurt you.

The ego is always looking for some trouble. Why? Because if nobody pays attention to you, the ego feels hungry.

It lives on attention.

So even if somebody is fighting and angry with you, that too is good because at least the attention is paid. If somebody loves, it is okay. If somebody is not loving you, then even anger will be good. At least the attention will come to you. But if nobody is paying any attention to you, nobody thinks that you are somebody important, significant, then how will you feed your ego?

Other's attention is needed.

In millions of ways you attract the attention of others; you dress in a certain way, you try to look beautiful, you behave, you become very polite, you change. When you feel what type of situation is there, you immediately change so that people pay attention to you.

This is a deep begging.

A real beggar is one who asks for and demands attention. And a real emperor is one who lives in himself; he has a center of his own, he doesn't depend on anybody else.

Buddha sitting under his bodhi tree...if the whole world suddenly disappears, will it make any difference to Buddha? -none. It will not make any difference at all. If the whole world disappears, it will not make any difference because he has attained to the center.

But you, if the wife escapes, divorces you, goes to somebody else, you are completely shattered - because she had been paying attention to you, caring, loving, moving around you, helping you to feel that you were somebody. Your whole empire is lost, you are simply shattered. You start thinking about suicide. Why? Why, if a wife leaves you, should you commit suicide? Why, if a husband leaves you, should you commit suicide? Because you don't have any center of your own. The wife was giving you the center; the husband was giving you the center.

This is how people exist. This is how people become dependent on others. It is a deep slavery. Ego HAS to be a slave. It depends on others. And only a person who has no ego is for the first time a master; he is no longer a slave. Try to understand this.

And start looking for the ego - not in others, that is not your business, but in yourself. Whenever you feel miserable, immediately close you eyes and try to find out from where the misery is coming and you will always find it is the false center which has clashed with someone.

You expected something, and it didn't happen.

You expected something, and just the contrary happened - your ego is shaken, you are in misery. Just look, whenever you are miserable, try to find out why.

Causes are not outside you. The basic cause is within you - but you always look outside, you always ask:

Who is making me miserable?

Who is the cause of my anger?

Who is the cause of my anguish?

And if you look outside you will miss.

Just close the eyes and always look within.

The source of all misery, anger, anguish, is hidden in you, your ego.

And if you find the source, it will be easy to move beyond it. If you can see that it is your own ego that gives you trouble, you will prefer to drop it - because nobody can carry the source of misery if he understands it.

And remember, there is no need to drop the ego.

You cannot drop it.

If you try to drop it, you will attain to a certain subtle ego again which says, "I have become humble."

Don't try to be humble. That's again ego in hiding - but it's not dead.

Don't try to be humble.

Nobody can try humility, and nobody can create humility through any effort of his own - no. When the ego is no more, a humbleness comes to you. It is not a creation. It is a shadow of the real center.

And a really humble man is neither humble nor egoistic.

He is simply simple.

He's not even aware that he is humble.

If you are aware that you are humble, the ego is there.

Look at humble persons.... There are millions who think that they are very humble. They bow down very low, but watch them - they are the subtlest egoists. Now humility is their source of food. They say, "I am humble," and then they look at you and they wait for you to appreciate them.

"You are really humble," they would like you to say. "In fact, you are the most humble man in the world; nobody is as humble as you are." Then see the smile that comes on their faces.

What is ego? Ego is a hierarchy that says, "No one is like me." It can feed on humbleness - "Nobody is like me, I am the most humble man."

It happened once:

A fakir, a beggar, was praying in a mosque, just early in the morning when it was still dark. It was a certain religious day for Mohammedians, and he was praying, and he was saying, "I am nobody. I am the poorest of the poor, the greatest sinner of sinners."

Suddenly there was one more person who was praying. He was the emperor of that country, and he was not aware that there was somebody else there who was praying - it was dark, and the emperor was also saying:

"I am nobody. I am nothing. I am just empty, a beggar at our door." When he heard that somebody else was saying the same thing, he said, "Stop! Who is trying to overtake me? Who are you? How dare you say before the emperor that you are nobody when he is saying that he is nobody?"

This is how the ego goes. It is so subtle. Its ways are so subtle and cunning; you have to be very, very alert, only then will you see it. Don't try to be humble. Just try to see that all misery, all anguish comes through it.

Just watch! No need to drop it.

You cannot drop it. Who will drop it? Then the DROPPER will become the ego. It always comes back.

Whatsoever you do, stand out of it, and look and watch.

Whatsoever you do - humbleness, humility, simplicity - nothing will help. Only one thing is possible, and that is just to watch and see that it is the source of all misery. Don't say it. Don't repeat it - WATCH. Because if I say it is the source of all misery and you repeat it, then it is useless. YOU have to come to that understanding. Whenever you are miserable, just close the eyes and don't try to find some cause outside. Try to see from where this misery is coming.

It is your own ego.

If you continuously feel and understand, and the understanding that the ego is the cause becomes so deep-rooted, one day you will suddenly see that it has disappeared. Nobody drops it - nobody can drop it. You simply see; it has simply disappeared, because the very understanding that ego causes all misery becomes the dropping. THE VERY UNDERSTANDING IS THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE EGO.

And you are so clever in seeing the ego in others. Anybody can see someone else's ego. When it comes to your own, then the problem arises - because you don't know the territory, you have never traveled on it.

The whole path towards the divine, the ultimate, has to pass through this territory of the ego. The false has to be understood as false. The source of misery has to be understood as the source of misery - then it simply drops.

When you know it is poison, it drops. When you know it is fire, it drops. When you know this is the hell, it drops.

And then you never say, "I have dropped the ego." Then you simply laugh at the whole thing, the joke that you were the creator of all misery.

I was just looking at a few cartoons of Charlie Brown. In one cartoon he is playing with blocks, making a house out of children's blocks. He is sitting in the middle of the blocks building the walls. Then a moment comes when he is enclosed; all around he has made a wall. Then he cries, "Help, help!"

He has done the whole thing! Now he is enclosed, imprisoned. This is childish, but this is all that you have done also. You have made a house all around yourself, and now you are crying, "Help, help!" And the misery becomes a millionfold - because there are helpers who are also in the same boat.

It happened that one very beautiful woman went to see her psychiatrist for the first time. The psychiatrist said, "Come closer please." When she came closer, he simply jumped and hugged and kissed the woman. She was shocked. Then he said, "Now sit down. This takes care of my problem, now what is your problem?"

The problem becomes multifold, because there are helpers who are in the same boat. And they would like to help, because when you help somebody the ego feels very good, very, very good - because you are a great helper, a great guru, a master; you are helping so many people. The greater the crowd of your followers, the better you feel.

But you are in the same boat - you cannot help.

Rather, you will harm.

People who still have their own problems cannot be of much help. Only someone who has no problems of his own can help you. Only then is there the clarity to see, to see through you. A mind that has no problems of its own can see you, you become transparent.

A mind that has no problems of its own can see through itself; that's why it becomes capable of seeing through others.

In the West, there are many schools of psychoanalysis, many schools, and no help is reaching people, but rather, harm. Because the people who are helping others, or trying to help, or posing as helpers, are in the same boat.

...It is difficult to see one's own ego.

It is very easy to see other's egos. But that is not the point, you cannot help them.

Try to see your own ego.

Just watch it.

Don't be in a hurry to drop it, just watch it. The more you watch, the more capable you will become. Suddenly one day, you simply see that it has dropped. And when it drops by itself, only then does it drop. There is no other way. Prematurely you cannot drop it.

It drops just like a dead leaf.

The tree is not doing anything - just a breeze, a situation, and the dead leaf simply drops. The tree is not even aware that the dead leaf has dropped. It makes no noise, it makes no claim - nothing.

The dead leaf simply drops and shatters on the ground, just like that.

When you are mature through understanding, awareness, and you have felt totally that ego is the cause of all your misery, simply one day you see the dead leaf dropping.

It settles into the ground, dies of its own accord. You have not done anything so you cannot claim that you have dropped it. You see that it has simply disappeared, and then the real center arises.

And that real center is the soul, the self, the god, the truth, or whatsoever you want to call it.

The law of one
The gospel of Moses is one of the new ancient text that was discovered with the Dead Sea scrolls.
It reveals the greatest secret of the ages; a secret that will set man free from the dogma and confusion of religion forever.
What is the greatest secret of the ages that is discovered in this ancient manuscript? The secret has to do with Moses...
What most people don't understand is that Moses received two laws on the top of the mountain: the law of one and the Ten Commandments.
He first received the law of oneness in the form of two tablets. When Moses went down to give the law to the people and saw that they worshipped an idol in the form of a golden calf, he broke the law of one by smashing it to the ground.
He then went up on the mountain top again and told God that the people were not yet ready for the truth of oneness, but that they loved falsehood more than truth.
So god gave the people another set of law as a punishment for their lack of love for the truth: the Ten Commandments. The law that Moses broke, however, would not disappear completely but would remain hidden in the hearts of man.
Jesus would later be sent by God to come and restore the old law of oneness when the collective consciousness had risen and was ready to receive it again.
Jesus came to earth in the mission of freeing people from the curse of the law that God had punished them with, by giving them the truth of oneness and non-duality again.
"The kingdom of heaven is within you" - Jesus
For more:
Www. Askrealjesus.com
It is time for you to set yourself free...
By Adam Damani (soul warrior)

A journal of witch hunt like trials is not this book. But it is a living light way of saying the following: Why are you always around to bring such favor to the ones here? Why are people so hurt by ones that are different? Can people feel themselves here more than over their or are they weary in a talk that doesn't feel love as much?

What talk does people mess around with in the stars? Does the book of evil come to mind here? Or does a book of light and love come to mind? If a person were to find out that they are supernatural and love at the same time, why do they feel so depressed at times?

What do people feel about a book that may not sound appopriate to a tentative schedule of living beyond the world?

The world doesn't find itself controlled as much as your own taste and luck.

Can different people know why they are vibing a knowing of known discovery that doesn't fear you or me, but does fear himself? The teaching can be made in vibes or dignified ways? What dignified way does people know who you are? It's when people don't feel as much themselves here - that they do in a whirlwind of crazy funny laughter. Sometimes distinct brave hearts that don't care how this comes out with herself. It is a feel distinct mode of rolling these spirits are doing in order to gain access to each other's brains that don't have enough to do but start drama calls in sound.

--Do you feel that you don't feel as alive as you remember yourself feeling at an earlier stage in your life?

--Do you feel that something in you has been lost?

--Do you feel disconnected from your original feeling of being alive?

--Do you feel
emotional numbness; do you feel that you have lost access and connection
to your true, authentic emotions? Do you feel that you desperately try
to reconnect with what you really feel, but to no results?

--Do you feel that you no longer see the world in awe and wonder? Do you feel that where you once saw a world full of colors and rainbows, you now see only grey scales?

--Do you feel that the things that used to make you feel alive, now dont make you feel anything anymore?

--Do you feel a sense of detachment (nonpresence) to life. Whatever you do, you are not present in it.

--Do you feel that you have lost your imagination and ability to daydream?

--Are you trying desperately to get in contact with your original feeling of being alive?

--Do you often find yourself asking: "i used to feel so alive....now i feel dead like a zombie...what has happened to me?"

I am here to answer these questions for you (since i myself has struggled a lot with this problem in my life).

So what is the problem that you are experiencing?

You are suffering from what the shamans call soul loss (a.k.a."dissociation" in the scientific western world).

What creates soul loss?

When you experienced a
serious trauma in your life, a part of your soul (the essence of who
you are / your unique identity / your connection with you / the part of
you that makes you feel alive) left your physical body and went back to
the spirit world. It did so to protect you from experiencing the full
hurt of the trauma; it would be too much to handle for you to experience
the trauma in its fullness at that time.

So now, your soul is
fragmented (all the different parts of your soul are not present inside
of you). Your consciousness no longer have access to those parts of
yourself. You have lost the full connection with yourself; and you are
desperately trying to reconnect with your lost self.

So in order to feel
alive again, you must retrieve the parts of your soul that has left you.
It is possible to retreive the lost parts of your soul--Shamans can
help you with this...

I know we all couldn't care much for lengthy submissions, so please view when you are receptive.

I know we all process information differently, at different times - what you could not grasp yesterday, may come effortlessly today; same as if you cannot grasp something today, it may come to you effortlessly tomorrow - that is, if you're living consciously.

I ran across this book 9 years ago, as I was very fascinated with Ayn Rand, and could not get enough of her wrtings. It is during this time that I came across the above mentioned book (The art of living consciously) which was written by, well, one of her 'close friends let's just say lol'... this book really opened my mind, and as I thought of it today, I felt to share it with you guys.

Product Description

Consciousness is our basic tool for successful adaptation to reality. The more conscious we are in any situation, the more possibilities we tend to perceive, the more options we have, the more powerful we are — perhaps even the longer we will live.

Living consciously means seeking to be aware of everything that bears on our actions, purposes, values, and goals — and behaving in accordance with that which we see and know.

Practiced consistently, mindfulness is an orientation, a discipline, a spiritual commitment.

In this book, Nathaniel Branden takes us into new territory, exploring the actions of our minds when they are operating as our life and well-being require — and also when they are not. In this book, Branden clearly illuminates what mindfulness means:

- in the workplace (what does it mean to work consciously?)

- in the area of romantic love (what does it mean to love consciously?)

- in child-rearing (what does it mean to parent consciously?)

- in the pursuit of personal development (what does it mean to participate consciously in the process of one’s own evolution?)

One of the book’s most exciting ideas is that of the spirituality of reason, which invites us to rethink our assumptions about both rationality and spirituality.

The practice of living consciously invites us to rethink many of our beliefs about our everyday activities, about morality, about life in the Information Age, about God. Today we are exposed to an unprecedented amount of information and an unprecedented number of opinions about every conceivable aspect of life. We are thrown on our own resources as never before — and we have nothing to protect us but the clarity of our thinking. “The Art of Living Consciously” is an operating manual for our basic tool of survival. It is also a call to the best within us.

In this new book, Nathaniel Branden examines in unprecedented depth what it means to live consciously — from the most intimate areas of life, to the workplace, to the social/political arena. One of the most exciting ideas he introduces is that of the spirituality of reason. This is an operations manual for our basic tool of survival — the mind — and a summons to the best within us.

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If you would like to get a glimpse of Nathaniel Branden and his life with Ayn Rand, please see video that I just posted called - My Years With Ayn Rand.

Question – IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE IN A STATE OF PURE CONSCIOUSNESS FOR A WHILE AND TO FALL OUT AGAIN?

Osho – No, it is not possible. But something like it happens: you have a glimpse of pure consciousness; you have not entered. It is just as if you look from hundreds of miles’ distance towards the Himalayan peaks. You have not reached them, but you can look from a vast distance. You can look at the peaks; you can have a feeling. You can open a window and look at the moon far away, and the rays will touch you and you will be illumined, you will have a certain experience, but from this window-experience you will fall again and again.

When pure consciousness is achieved — not a glimpse from a distance, but you have entered into it — then you cannot lose it again. Once achieved it is achieved forever. You cannot fall out of it. Why? Because the moment you enter it you disappear. Who can fall out of it? To fall out at least you have to remain as yourself. But to enter pure consciousness, the ego disappears completely, the self disappears completely. Then who will come back?

In a glimpse you are not disappeared; you are there. You can have a glimpse and close the eyes. You can have a glimpse and close the window. It will become a memory; it will haunt you; it will become a nostalgia. It will come in your dreams. Sometimes, suddenly, you will feel again a deep urge to have that glimpse, but it cannot be a phenomenon forever and forever. Glimpses are only glimpses. Good, beautiful, but don’t cling to them; because they are not permanent. You will fall out of them again and again — because you are still there.

When there is a glimpse, move towards the peaks, move towards the moon… become one with the moon. Unless you disappear completely you will fall. You will have to come back to the world because that ego will feel suffocated with the glimpse. The ego will feel deathlike panic. It will say, “Close the window! Enough you have looked at the moon. Now don’t be foolish. Don’t be a lunatic.” The word “lunatic” means moonstruck. The word comes from “lunar” — of the moon. All mad people are called lunatics, moonstruck — thinking of distant dreams.

The mind, the ego, will say, “Don’t be a lunatic. It is okay to have, sometimes, the window open and look at the moon, but don’t be obsessed. The world is waiting for you. You have responsibilities to fulfill in the world.” And the ego will bring you and persuade you, seduce you, towards the world; because the ego can exist only in the world. Whenever something of the other world penetrates into your mind, the ego becomes afraid, panicky, scared. It looks like death.

If that glimpse is to become a permanent life-style, your very being, then you have to bridge the distance, bridge the gap. You have to move. When you become pure consciousness then there is no falling out again. It is a point of no return. One only goes in; one never comes out. It has no exit, only one door… the entrance.

hello fam i made u guys a gmail account to download as many books as u guys want i will put amazing books thatve changed my view on life completely... message > [email protected] and request books that u want...

Hello Everyone! I am new here on this site, but I have been enjoying AstralBooBaby's YouTube videos for several months. My book is a twist on Astral Projection and is coming out May, 2011 and will be available with all major eBook retail sites. I thought it would be nice to post a small portion and maybe get some feedback. The book is called Kiirean Incorporeal and in this piece he is trying to describe his out-of-body state to his friend. He is of a whole race of "people" who live in and out of their flesh.

If you like the little you read here, you can "like" Kiirean Incorporeal on facebook! Thank you in advance for those who take the time to check it out. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around this site!

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“I still remember it clearly,” he said, turning his gaze back to the horizon. “A few months had passed since we left this area and I was still upset. Night had fallen and Aeramis and I lay wrapped in our blankets in the shelter of a small wooded area, for we had not yet found a comfortable and safe place to stay. We talked for a bit, about which direction we would be taking the following morning, but Aeramis was tired and soon fell asleep. I lay there for a while, looking up at the over-hanging leaves above and listening to the lulling sounds of the crickets as they chirped out their nightly music. My thoughts began to wander to Ohryn and I felt strangely homesick for the land that I had never seen. I wondered what it would be like to live with my own race, how different my life would have been had my parents never left to seek refuge here. Then I began to think about you; how I missed my playmate. As memories of our times together filled my mind, all musings of Ohryn were pushed aside and then the only place I wanted to be was back in our secret retreat. Do you remember it?” he asked off-handedly.

“Oh yes,” replied Oceana. “It was a pond a mile or so south of the village. We liked it because of the huge willow tree that grew at its edge. We would pretend that it was a magic pond and you would help me climb into the branches that hung over the water and from there I would summon up all the sea-creatures I could imagine to hold secret councils with.” Her face lit up as she remembered what fun they had had at their ‘magic’ pond.

“Exactly,” Kiirean said, pleased that she recalled it with such detail. “I was lying on the ground, unable to sleep, thinking of our favorite perch in the old willow. I closed my eyes and the desire to go back and see it one more time was so strong that when I opened my eyes again, I was there. I was sitting on the branch with one hand against the trunk and my feet were dangling off the side. At first, I thought I was dreaming, for I was accustomed to having vivid dreams. But as I looked around in awe, it dawned on me that I really was there, only not in the flesh but in my spirit form.”

“You mean like a ghost?” Oceana asked, becoming more engrossed than she realized.

Kiirean reflected then said, “No, not at all. Well, I guess in some ways…” he sighed as he struggled to define his state of being when outside his body. “It is hard to describe so I will tell you what my own feelings were on that night. As I sat on the branch, I could feel it under me; I felt the rough bark of the trunk as my hand gripped it, I felt my hair rippling as the cool breeze flowed over me. Aeramis had already told me what it would be like but he could not have prepared me for the numerous sensations that overwhelmed me at that moment. All my senses seemed amplified. My hearing was sharper, my eyesight clearer. I jumped out of the tree and landed on my feet but noted that there was no jolting impact. As I stood and watched the moonlight glancing along the surface of the pond, an idea struck me. I climbed back into the tree and, choosing the branch that reached out the furthest over the water, made my way to its end. Still clutching the limb, I swung off and dangled there, directly above the center of the murky pool. Letting go my hold, I plunged into the chill water below. There was no splash as I was immersed and instead of resurfacing, allowed myself to sink down. The water was cold and as I sank deeper, grew frigid as it rushed up around me. Although I could feel the cold, it caused me no discomfort and as I breathed in instinctively, I felt the cold liquid in my mouth and lungs, but it was as though I was breathing air. I had reached the bottom and a thrill coursed through me as I stood there at the depths of the pond. I looked around at the loose stones beneath my feet and found that, with my acute vision, I was capable of seeing them individually, though they were somewhat obscured by the darkness. Reaching down, I picked up a few that were small and smooth, and then rose easily back to the surface.

Filled with exuberance, I was impatient to get back to Aeramis and tell him all that had happened. I knew all I needed to do was to focus my thoughts on where I wanted to be and will myself there. I did this and the next moment I was standing in the midst of our encampment, looking at Aeramis who was still sleeping soundly. Next to him, wrapped in a warm blanket, was my vacant form. It was odd to see my body, empty and motionless, but not unsettling. I called out to Aeramis but he did not hear me, so I reached down and jerked back his coverings, exposing him to the cold night air. He stirred, then sat up and appeared to look right at me but, in fact, he did not see me and was only looking past my invisible form. He had told me that he would be unable to behold me in that state, but I was curious to find out for myself. After glancing around and checking to make certain I was still there beside him, he lay back down and attempted to get comfortable. But he was prevented, for I reentered my body and, rousing him a second time, told him what had taken place.”

Oceana sat, wide-eyed and fully absorbed in his story. He looked over at her and said, “As I told you before, he was surprised that it had happened to me at such a young age, and even more amazed when I showed him the pebbles I had collected from the pond which I still clutched in my hand. I guess transporting objects in incorporeal form is a skill that normally is developed over time and with much practice.” He could tell that she had been interested and hoped that he was correct in assuming that she felt his words to be true.

I didn't write this, it's the last chapter of a book written in 1947 called An Eternal Career. I think it's a great essay that I hope can help people who are scared of death or who believe their loved ones are long gone. Like ABB says, take what vibes with you, leave what doesn't, but read it all.

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XIII

THE MYSTERY OF DEATH

"You call it death—this seeming endless sleep;

We call it birth—the soul at last set free.

’Tis hampered not by time or space—you weep.

Why weep at death? ’Tis immortality!"

DEATH! Who coined that awful word with its dread implication? Who painted death with its dark and false colors? People shrink with terror when they hear of it; their voices sink when they speak of it; their minds fill with fear when they think of it; their whole being vibrates to a different force when they contemplate it. They look upon it as the greatest calamity and act as if their loved ones were no more, and become immersed in the deepest despair.

THERE IS NO DEATH! What seems to be cessation is only transition; the soul withdraws from the physical organism and continues to exist as an organized entity of spirit, mind and spirit-body. The external form mingles again with the elements of earth nevermore to be reclaimed; but the spirit is clothed in its spiritual body which has senses and faculties corresponding to all of the physical ones.

Death is a mystery because of its silence, but it is not a fearful one. It is the friend who frees you, who has the key to the door that can be opened in no other way. It comes unsought, quite often with a stealthy tread and you are called to go elsewhere. All the collected power of the world cannot ward off this visitor; no excuses avail; no period of waiting is permitted; no time extended to finish earthly business. If your pen is lifted you may not be able to write. You may be active in your daily duties when this messenger arrives; or it may overtake you in your sleep, to awaken in another state of consciousness.

Death, the last act on the stage of human activity, liberates the soul from the bondage of the flesh. It is but a breath and life anew is experienced; and unlike moving from one earthly locality to another, this change is easily and quickly effected. No garments are required; no possessions are taken; the only preparation needed is a mental and spiritual one.

On your arrival in the land of spirit you are always met, usually by your nearest and dearest ones who have requested and been granted permission to greet you. They understand what you have been through for while the experience is new to you, it has already been theirs. They also knew the momentary terror you felt when you released the hand of friend or relative. They, too, underwent the sorrow of bidding farewell to loved ones.

You will not necessarily dwell with those you lived with on earth; rarely will you always be together,

no more than on earth were you constantly with them. You will be led to those who have greater wisdom and wider experience, enabling you to progress more rapidly.

You will not be changed beyond recognition! You will not be changed at all! Death effects no alteration in appearance or in the intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual nature of man. Death changes a man no more than does moving from one city to another; nor does it absolve him from his moral obligations. Evil men are not transformed into angels, nor good men into demons. Human nature here is human nature there.

No fabrication is more pernicious than the one which makes death an avenue of escape from the consequences of one's acts. As, for example, the suicide who hopes for oblivion. Dissolution, he believes, will save him from his sins and free him from his troubles and obligations. Whereas, if he knew the truth, that there is no escape from life and its problems, he would not be apt to make such a dreadful mistake as destroying his body. Suicide solves no difficulties; it erases no errors; they must be solved in a future day under conditions less favorable.

So long as man is convinced that through faith he can secure forgiveness, so long will he gratify his evil desires. So long as he believes that through death he will be absolved from his sins, so long will he continue many practices he would abandon if he knew that life is eternal, continuous and changeless; that fulfillment of its duties and payment of its debts are inescapable.

The goal reached on earth is the starting point Over There. While on earth you form certain habits; develop inherent faculties and unfold latent capacities, and if you have enlightenment build your character. As you acquire wisdom you discard undesirable habits, modify intolerant opinions and overcome the defects which retard your progression. So by the time you are old, your character is closer to perfection than when you were young. Your acquirements, capacities and abilities determine your status on earth; they will also decide your position in the spirit world. Death in no way affects man's status or his accomplishments, and what is known to man will be known to spirit.

Contrary to some peculiar ideas no soul is ever transported into the presence of the Most High, nor onto the bosom of Jesus with all its sins miraculously washed away. They will find themselves instead in a place congenial to their nature and consonant with their manner of thinking and living. Some souls gravitate to higher planes, others to lower; but many remain on earth chained to their material interests and their physical desires. Wise are they who overcome the desires of the flesh and the attractions of matter; let their vices die before them, so that they will be prepared to live in spirit.

"He is at peace, he is happy NOW." How often one hears these expressions at burial services. But death is no gain and cannot give us what we do not already have. Unless one has happiness and peace here it is folly to suppose he will have them elsewhere.Felicity and serenity are not vicarious gifts; they are states of mind which must be earned, and having been earned must be guarded very carefully.

Unquestionably the most criminal hoax ever perpetrated on mankind is the belief that when the body is laid in the grave the man is laid there also. And that when the organs of sense are buried, the senses also are interred. This deception has caused untold sorrow and suffering.

This fallacy is also responsible for another great evil, namely the extravagant expenditure upon funerals. The pagan preoccupation with the body has in every age been a source of much mischief and has contributed greatly to the impoverishment of the people. It is a custom universally deplored by enlightened people, but which no efforts seem able to eradicate.

It is only too evident that people are ignorant as ever as regards their true nature. For at the request of relatives, the government is planning to bring 300,000 bodies of American boys buried abroad to this country for repatriation. The cost of this project will be over $333,000,000 which would be as naught IF it brought the boys back. But, alas, all the money and power in the world cannot restore life to a single body. Then why all the expenditure upon corpses? Because the bereaved parents, unable to conceive of life apart from the form, wish them returned home and to honor them with a memorial service.

Honor the victims of war by reburial of their corpses? Who benefits by it? No one.

There is only ONE way to honor these slaughtered boys. Honor them by preventing another catastrophic war from being passed on to another generation.

Another egregious error cherished by many is that the citizens of the higher realms spend their time resting, sleeping and mulling over the past. However, life Over There is entirely different from these orthodox misconceptions. Pause a moment and consider. Many people commence things on earth which they desired with all their soul but were forced to give up, and must wait until passing to spirit before resuming these occupations or interests. These they do resume and perfect, and then return to earth to help those struggling with similar studies and problems.

For example, many on earth longed to sing but had no voice. Others lost their voices yet had a song in their heart all their days. On passing to spirit they perfect their singing and return to earth to help discouraged students and inspire them to greater effort. The same is true of other vocations, for all occupations not purely material are continued. Life needs completion and fulfillment; interrupted plans, deferred hopes and uncompleted designs, all aspirations and longings find realization Over There. Nothing worthwhile can be accomplished in one short earthly life.

Indeed there is much to be done Over There. Many labor caring for the sick, and for those who have taken their own lives. Others teach people on earth to understand its laws better, and to help them understand their fellowmen. All souls on leaving the earth-plane must be met on coming to spirit. The departed often return for hundreds of years to assist the troubled ones of earth to conquer error, despair and superstition. Everyone labors for others in the name of love and kindness, and for a common end in which all are mutually interested and benefited. There are periods for repose but they are employed in study, meditation and contemplation.

Heaven and earth are in reality ONE; not many but ONE world with only a thin veil between the spheres. The so-called "other side" of life is very close to this one—as close as you will have it, so do not close the door to it. Communications can be had with its inhabitants while still in the flesh, telepathy being the method used. One of the conditions that strikes the newcomer most forcibly is the prevailing silence; for with the exception of the planes where dwell the children, birds and animals, thought and music are the means of communication.

How do the people look Over There? They look as they did in earthly life at their best; returning to the age of beauty, happiness and health. You find not only youth, but also aged persons, well and perfect of their type.

There are many degrees of the so-called Heaven and Hell as by no means is all bright and glorious

p. 129

beyond the vale. There are places where go those who have little spiritual enlightenment, whose tastes and habits are against the accepted laws of their country. Those who are depraved, whose intelligence is not far removed from the animal; those who spent the major part of their lives in selfishness, taking advantage of their fellowmen, with few good deeds to their credit—do not find even a reflection of Heaven. Instead they gravitate to the place prepared by themselves, surrounded by the effects of their evil thoughts and deeds.

It is an historical fact that all the greatest criminals have sat in the seats of the mighty. There are no lack of accounts of tyrants in power, rogues in control, imbeciles on thrones who showed their contempt for God by making war, which resulted in unspeakable oppression and retrogression for the human race. Death is the great leveler. Those who on earth abused their positions of trust and power will find themselves in very different and inferior circumstances in the spirit world.

"Dead men do tell tales," notwithstanding the widespread fallacy that the departed are so remote from terrestrial scenes that they have no knowledge of what occurs here. "Dead" men do communicate with people on earth; sometimes disclosing the manner of their passing, and unknown circumstances connected with it. Moreover, all the inventions, discoveries and knowledge on earth were relayed by discarnate entities to those whose minds were sufficiently sensitive and receptive. Absolutely nothing originates on the earth-plane; all things have a spiritual origin. The "dead" are not mute; it is we on earth who are spiritually deaf, dumb and blind.

"He was stingy, mean and selfish," or "he was generous, kind and charitable." There is no past tense for man. Man IS. As he is before death, so he is after death.

"His troubles are over," is another common expression used by those who cling to the oblivion theory. All troubles, with the exception of physical conditions, man takes with him into the next world. Life is synonymous with struggle; all created things evolve through conflict which is proportionate to their degree of development. Not until the soul becomes emotionless and at peace are its troubles over.

"How happy and proud a mother or father would be if they could now see their child grown to maturity." "He or she would turn over in the grave if they had any idea of what is going on." "I am so glad that they didn't live to see certain conditions transpiring on earth." The general supposition seems to be that when a soul discards his physical body that he is no longer conscious, or that he is so remote from earth he can have no knowledge of its activities. Consequently people say and do many things they would never say and do if the departed were present. Nevertheless, the "dead" are often a silent auditor and witness, and some of the things they hear and see make them writhe and squirm. Furthermore, they usually are present at the reading of their wills, which often proves to be a painful and revelatory experience.

"We will be a long time dead," is a common statement true only of those who pass on in spiritual darkness; those who refuse to believe in an after life. Even as on earth some people are obstinate and close their minds to spiritual truths, so they are obstinate in spirit and reject the fact of immortality. Such as these are unaware that they have passed on but imagine they are dreaming, and in this state often wander on the earthplane for years. Of these it truly can be said that "they are dead for a longe time."

"They will live again," is an oft-heard phrase. But in reality no one ever ceases to live. Forms and habitations change, but life, the eternal stream of consciousness, continues forever without interruption.

How did this state of affairs ever come about that men have so completely forgotten the nobleness of their origin and the grandeur of their destiny? Their plight can be compared to that of a wealthy man who has lost conscious knowledge of his identity, believes he is poor and lives like a pauper.

The ancients tell us that man's association with matters begins long before his advent into the physical body; that he does not suddenly "fall" into matter but by gradual, successive and insensible alterations. Pure spirit dwells originally among the fixed stars and first surrounds itself with a body composed of their essence before it becomes involved into a physical body. Then as it journeys through the various spheres envelops itself with ethereal matter more and more gross, eventually descending into the earthly form it attracted.

It is during its pilgrimage into matter that the soul gradually forgets its heavenly home and its Divine Nature, and by the time it reaches earth dim indeed are memories of its former estate. If souls carried with them into the bodies they occupy all the knowledge they had acquired in Heaven, men would not differ in opinion as to the Deity and Divine Truths. But some forget more, and some less of that which they had learned prior to physical birth. And some forget so much they even deny the existence of the Creator and the immortality of the soul.

Fortunate are they who have knowledge of immortality when death enters the home, as eventually it does every home. When the grave opens up and seemingly swallows all that life holds dear, of what comfort is it to be told that the loved one is now eternally at rest, or forever asleep in the Lord? When hearts are breaking at the thought of farewell who can derive consolation from a desolate "perhaps" that in some remote time there may be a reunion? Contrast this pagan attitude towards death with that of the early Christians who rejoiced and gave thanks to God when one of their number had departed from this world.

It is not death but life which separates people. As our lives diverge we grow apart from friends and relatives, not physically but mystically. We are separated not by space or distance but by lack of affinity and similarity of tastes. Quite often, too, the soul on earth finds itself in uncongenial surroundings. Quite often one member of a family feels alien and strange, and yet the path of duty is definite and responsibilities are great. So rather than wound others by breaking away, the soul prefers to live in an uncongenial atmosphere. In the land of spirit this is not necessary. The soul is attracted towards those with whom it is at home, with those for whom it has affinity. The way is quite clear; it is not decided by desire, but by the ability of the newcomer to adapt himself and give obedience to the laws.

Is the spirit world a place of realities or phantoms? The spirit world is as real and tangible to the spirit-body as the material world is to the physical body. It is the world of realities of which the earth world is the shadow, and wherein all things have' their eternal pattern.

Men rejoice at birth and weep at death; in reality they should do the reverse. Birth is death to the soul, while death is the soul's resurrection; and is not an occasion for mourning but for rejoicing that a soul has risen!

The gateway of death is not dark! It is the entrance into the most beautiful of countries! All the loved ones we knew long ago are waiting for us, for where there is love there is no separation. Death has no dominion over the immortal soul. Time never was when man was not; time never will be when man is not. Suns and systems will perish—the great universe will pass like a dream, yet man will still live.

Death is not the conqueror of man; man is the conqueror of death!

"Farewell, dear voyageur—the river winds and turns;

The cadence of your song wafts near to me,

And now you know the thing that all men learn;

There is no death—there's immortality!"

FOR US

If we have not learned that God's in man,

And man in God again,

That to love thy God is to love thy brother,

And to serve thy God is to serve each other—

Then Christ was born in vain!

If we have not learned that one man's life

In all men lives again;

That each man's battle, fought alone,

Is won or lost for everyone

Then Christ hath lived in vain!

If we have not learned that death's no break

In life's unceasing chain,

That the work in one life well begun

In others is finished, by others is done—

Then Christ hath died in vain!

If we have not learned of immortal life,

And a future free from pain,

The Kingdom of God in the heart of man,

And the living world on heaven's plan—

Then Christ arose in vain!

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Note, for this last part, it doesn't necessarily mean the Christian Christ exactly, it means the universal princple of Savior or Redeemer within our consciousness, the cosmic Christ within everyone to bring us to "Heaven"